HC Deb 02 June 1998 vol 313 cc159-61
5. Mr. William Cash (Stone)

If (a) the legal service to the European Council and (b) the legal advisers in his Department have provided written opinions on the EC draft directive on the advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products on which the Council has adopted a common position. [42179]

The Minister for Public Health (Ms Tessa Jowell)

Legal advice to the United Kingdom Government and the Council must remain internal to those institutions. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that all advice was carefully considered by the Government in advance of the decision to support the common position. We remain content that the legal base is appropriate for this measure.

Mr. Cash

Will the Minister put the written advice in the Library of the House, and if not, why not? Is she aware that, only a few days ago, Commissioner Padraig Flynn admitted in the European Parliament that no economic impact study had been done by the European Union in devising the directive? It follows that there is no base on which the directive could legitimately have been made.

Ms Jowell

That was a nice try. No, I will not place the advice in the Library. As the hon. Gentleman well knows, the regulatory appraisal process operates once a directive has completed its parliamentary stages. I have a wonderful sense of nostalgia at today's Health questions. We have the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) back on the Front Bench, and we have Tory Cash for questions.

Mr. Kevin Barron (Rother Valley)

Does my hon. Friend recognise that the real concern about the European directive on tobacco advertising is not its legal status, which has been agreed, but the need to assist in saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who die prematurely throughout the European Union from the use of tobacco products?

Ms Jowell

My hon. Friend is right about the importance of ending the 500,000 preventable deaths every year in the European Union from tobacco and smoking-related causes. The legal base is important. We are clear that it is secure and that this measure to harmonise the market in tobacco advertising is appropriately based on the relevant article, which carries with it an obligation to offer a high level of health protection.

Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood)

Is it not ethically unjustifiable, when the European Union is rightly trying to ban tobacco advertising to save life, that it should subsidise the production of tobacco in Greece and other Mediterranean countries?

Ms Jowell

Yes, but the sort of amendment that we want to the common agricultural policy must be sought through negotiation and consent. We will continue to argue the case for reform.

6. Dr. Nick Palmer (Broxtowe)

What progress has been made towards implementing the proposed European directive on tobacco advertising. [42180]

The Minister for Public Health (Ms Tessa Jowell)

On 13 May, the European Parliament voted through unamended the common position agreed by EU Health Ministers last December. We hope that it can now be adopted during the UK presidency. The time scale for implementation of the directive in UK law will be set out in the tobacco control White Paper to be published later this year. This major achievement shows that we are serious about co-operation with our European partners and about tackling smoking, and ends an eight-year stalemate on the issue.

Dr. Palmer

We spend so much time on trivial political points that we sometimes overlook major achievements. Will the Minister for Public Health accept my congratulations, and I think the congratulations of most hon. Members, on breaking the logjam and achieving this important step forward? Will she also accept, perhaps in contrast to the previous questioner, that we now need further advance on other fronts with our European partners to combat the scourge of tobacco, to harmonise tariffs on tobacco, and to work together to eliminate the deaths and illnesses that have plagued the continent for so long?

Ms Jowell

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that there is further scope for European action, especially on the labelling of cigarettes, tar content and combating smuggling. He is also right to say that, if we in this country are to deal with the previous Government's legacy of increasing numbers of children taking up smoking, we have to do many things; but what is absolutely clear is that we will not reduce the rate at which children smoke unless we ban tobacco advertising.

Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South)

I join in welcoming the advertising ban, but does the Minister agree that the common agricultural policy needs to be reformed speedily, given that millions of pounds have been spent on producing tobacco and given how quick the European Union was to damage our beef industry when fewer deaths had resulted?

Ms Jowell

I agree that the common agricultural policy is in need of reform in that respect. I should like to place on record the Government's support for the worldwide initiative against tobacco started by Gro Brundtland, the new director of the World Health Organisation. It is by countries working together that we can begin to make a real impact on one of the major causes of preventable death affecting nations today.